Kurt is another central character in “Grilled Cheesus” but his view and journey is strikingly different to the others’. Kurt is the only character to vocalise that he doesn’t believe in God at all and the rest of the kids are incredulous when he says it. His main reason seems to be tied up with his sexuality:
“Most churches don’t think very much of gay people…”
“[God] makes me gay and then has His followers go round telling me it’s something that I chose, as if anyone would choose to be mocked every single day of their life.”
This would become an unreadably long post if I open up the can of worms that is homosexuality and the church, so apologies but I’m just not going to go there right now, suffice to say that God loves everyone and that’s not dependent on their sexuality!
His other key reason for his lack of belief seems to be that you can’t prove God exists, although Mercedes points out the equal and opposite truth that you can’t prove God doesn’t exist. I’m sure I’ll go into more detail about “proving” God in future posts but just consider this for now – how do you know the wind exists? You can’t see it, right? You can’t hold it or really touch it. But you know it’s real! You can hear it, feel it and see its effects, can’t you? Well, those are also ways that I know that God exists – I see things that He does, I can feel His presence and I hear Him (as in I talk to Him and He talks to me – that possibly sounds freaky, but isn’t two-way communication normal in any relationship?!).
I was thankful that Kurt didn’t change his position during the episode and suddenly “see the light”. So many of the other characters were suddenly coming out with a faith – Christian, Jewish, grilled cheese, etc. – that he was an important representation of people who don’t believe in God and I appreciated his honesty. While there was a slight softening in him towards church/prayer, his journey was much more about realising the value of family and friends. At the beginning of the episode going to see The Sound of Music is more important than having a family meal. By the end he’s painfully aware of how precious his dad is, declaring “I don’t believe in God, Dad, but I believe in you and I believe in us, you and me…I’m so sorry I never got to tell you that.”
It’s far too easy to take people for granted, especially those who are closest to us. Our family and friends can be some of the most precious gifts God give us. He “sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6) and He created marriage as the best way to protect people physically and emotionally, as well as provide stability for a couple and their children. (Sadly marriages and families don’t always work as they are designed to though and can be places of terrible heartbreak and abuse.) Also, on the night before Jesus’ death (when you’d expect someone who knew they were about to die to say what they felt was really important) he said “as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
People have the idea that a church is a building, but the Bible talks about church as a people, a body, a family. You don’t “go” to church, you “are” church! Mercedes demonstrates this when she says “Hi Church” at the meeting she takes Kurt to. Obviously churches, like families, aren’t perfect but they are meant to love and support one another. People shouldn’t go to a meeting, they’re supposed to meet with each other!
Kurt’s song – “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” – was the least spiritual of all the “spiritual” songs in this episode, only apparently talking about holding his Dad’s hand and how important that’s been to him. However, the truth is that God is our heavenly Father and can do the equivalent of an earthly father holding our hand, as the writer of Psalm 73 acknowledges, saying “I am always with you [God]; you hold me by my right hand.” And unlike Bert, Kurt’s dad, who will one day die and leave him, God promises us that He “will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
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